New Brew: Chico and the Mandarin

This time last year, we brewed Orangina Galena -- a hoppy pale ale with a goodly amount of Orangina added at bottling. Chicks dug it. This year's orange offering is Chico & The Mandarin. It's very pale (The Man) with a nod to witbier via some coriander and wheat, then finally fermented on some mandarin oranges. Chico, of course, makes his contribution as the tireless workhorse yeast of which we're so unabashedly fond. There are now unconfirmed reports of the mandarins actually turning the beer a very bright orange. Creepy!

I carried the theme over to a couple t-bone pork chops thinking we'd be the only two on the porch. They were marinated for hours in Mandarin Orange soda, soy sauce, Chinese 5-spice and Sriracha. As luck would have it...interlopers encroached! Fortunately, they made restitution with BBQ shrimp & mango skewers. And so it was. We gorged on grilled shellfish, turkey, chicken and pig. Someone who had slightly more pig than others coined the day's top phrase: "Oh my god. That pork is RETARDED!"

Warning: There was frank talk of pig tails, brains, tongue, feet and ears gracing future menus. Recipes are in the works.

OG=1.06 IBU=30 SRM=6?